DNA Gold Found in Genetic Desert

DNA
sequences that activate genes from distant locations were discovered
in regions of the genomes of humans, mice, frogs and both puffer
and zerba fish thought be genetic deserts.

BY LYNN YARRIS

Vast regions of the human genome thought to be genetic “deserts”
harboring DNA sequences of no value may actually contain heretofore
hidden nuggets of DNA gold. A team of researchers at Berkeley Lab
and the Joint Genome Institute (JGI) compared DNA sequences from gene
deserts in the genomes of humans, mice, frogs, and fish and discovered
sequences that regulate the expression, or activation, of genes over
surprisingly long distances.

“The distance from which these long-range enhancers can reach
out across the genome to regulate a gene is a hundredfold greater
than anyone thought,” says Edward Rubin, M.D., who led this
research. “Gene deserts may not be home to any genes, but they
can host DNA sequences that act as long-distance switches to activate
far away genes. This suggests that the idea that all gene deserts
could be eliminated with no consequences to the organism is wrong.”

Rubin is director of Berkeley Lab’s Genomics Division and of
the JGI. As a research geneticist, he has been a pioneer in the study
of the evolutionary conservation of noncoding DNA sequences that play
an important role in regulating gene expression. The results of his
latest finding are reported in the Oct. 17, 2003 issue of Science.
Co-authoring the Science paper with Rubin were Marcelo Nobrega and
Veena Afzal of Berkeley Lab and JGI and Ivan Ovcharenko, now with
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

Earlier work led by Rubin established that comparative analysis techniques
used to identify genes — sequences of DNA bases that code for
proteins — in humans and other vertebrates can also be used
to identify DNA sequences that regulate genes.
He explains the principle as this: “If evolution conserved a
sequence over the millions of years since humans and other vertebrates
diverged, it likely has a function. Whether this function is to code
for a protein or to regulate gene expression, we should be able to
identify these sequences through genomic comparisons.”

In this latest research, Rubin and his Science co-authors applied
the principle of conserved noncoding sequences to gene deserts. Genes
are distributed in clumps throughout the 3 billion DNA bases that
make up the human genome. It is estimated that as a result of this
uneven distribution, approximately 25 percent of the genome is a genetic
wasteland, made up of gene deserts that stretch out more than 500,000
bases in length. Because gene deserts were thought to contain nothing
of importance, they have gone largely unexplored.

JGI
Director Eddy Rubin

“We went into one of these deserts looking for a gene regulatory
element that could regulate from far away, something that has been
conserved by evolution since humans and fish shared a common ancestor,”
Rubin says.

He and his co-authors focused on a human gene called DACH1, which
is involved in the development of the brain, limbs and sensory organs
and resides between two large gene deserts. Because there have been
few regulatory elements found near the DACH1 gene, Rubin speculated
that such elements might be located in the surrounding gene deserts.

To identify evolutionarily conserved “footprints” that
might correspond to possible DACH1 enhan-cers, Rubin and his co-authors
compared more than 2.5 million DNA bases from the human DACH1 gene
and its desert neighbors to the bases in their mouse genome counterparts.
They identified more than a thousand conserved noncoding sequences,
meaning sequences at least 70 percent identical in both species over
at least 100 bases. They then determined which of these sequences
had also been conserved in the genomes of the frog, the zebra fish,
and two types of fugu, or puffer fish. This reduced the number of
conserved noncoding sequences to 32. A series of in vivo testing was
then used to identify seven long-range gene enhancers buried in the
deserts on either side of the human DACH1 gene.

The findings in the Science paper indicate that future studies aimed
at understanding the way genes are expressed in the human genome and
how they function may have to expand the DNA sequence territory taken
into consideration. The findings also hold implications for the treatment
of diseases.

Explains Rubin, “Regulatory elements that are very far away
from a gene can cause serious problems. You can think of these long-range
enhancers like the root system of a tree. Previously we thought that
roots only extended a short distance from the tree. Our new study
suggests that some roots can extend far away from the tree’s
trunk and branches. Cutting those distant roots can still do harm
to the tree.”

Off to a Great Start - Berkeley Lab Runaround

“Don’t
run me over!” yelled Roy Kaltschmidt, the Lab’s senior
photographer, as hundreds of Runaround participants jumped from
the start line. Standing a perilous five feet in front of them,
the 6’5” Kaltschmidt raised his camera over his head
and fired about five or six shots in each direction as the stampede
veered around him. “I got belted once as someone ran into
me,” he laughed, apparently still in one piece. The photograph
above is ample proof he walked away with his life — and
some nifty shots.

BY MONICA FRIEDLANDER

A near-record number of participants — 754 runners and walkers
plus about 20 bicycle riders — participated in the annual Berkeley
Lab Runaround,.“This was the largest turnout in six years and
the third highest ever,” said event coordinator Steve Derenzo.

Mark
Levine and Bo Bodvarsson, shown here at the post-run ceremony,
headed an exciting divisional competition in this year's Runaround.

Sally
Benson presents the winner, Dula Parkinson. He holds his trophy
after having won the race for the second consecutive year. The
proud winner got to enjoy the spoils of victory this time, unlike
last year when school duties summoned him back to campus before
the awards ceremony was held.

Winners were Dula Parkinson, a graduate student in Physical Biosciences,
with a time of 10:05, and Susannah Tringe of the Geno-mics Division,
with a time of 13:15. Parkinson also won the race last year. Deputy
Lab Director Sally Benson presented prizes to the winners in the various
serious, fun, and outright whacky categories (including snazziest
shoes, youngest baby, best legs on a man and biceps on a woman).

The fun atmosphere did not preclude fierce rivalries that would put
Olympic competitions to shame. Only days before the event, the Earth
Sciences Division (ESD) officially challenged Environmental Energy
Technologies (EETD) to a divisional competition pitting the five fastest
runners from each division. Hence a race between the proponents of
more efficient energy tools and improved air quality versus the team
digging for solutions to environmental remediation and global climate
change.

Susannah
Tringe was the first woman to cross the finish line, with a time
of 13 minutes, 15 seconds.

Bo Bodvarsson, head of ESD, felt pretty secure that his team had
an inherent advantage over EETD, whose team, he told EETD head Mark
Levine, is focused on “indoor stuff, perhaps something to do
with couches and comfortable chairs.” Moreover, Bodvarsson added,
because of EETD’s concern with air quality, “many of your
scientists might be reluctant to breathe fast and furiously.”

Quipped Levine, “Some of us resent your mention of our indoor
activity. Phil Price, for example, spends a lot of time running around
creeks and sometimes being up them. Many of us — and I proudly
count myself among them — have gotten in terrific shape running
to catch airplanes. And some of us are truly in great shape from our
inexhaustible efforts to save the world.”

Fate, however, sided with the outdoorsy ESD team over their indoor
counterparts. What’s more, Bodvarsson’s team holds the
distinction of having its five best runners finish in the top 20 overall.
The race for moral high ground will have to be decided at a later
time. The prize for the victors: the loser team shall treat the winner
and his teammates to a barbecue. Many Olympians should be so lucky.

Final results will be posted on the Runaround website.

And the Best Centipede . . .

As
in past years, a fun highlight of the Runaround was the march
of the centipede — the “Building 64 Codons”
this year — manned by members of the Physical Biosciences
Division (Building 64 denizens). Explains Libby Holbrook: “The
genetic code also consists of 64 codons. And each individual wore
a nametag indicating an amino acid or start or stop codon as part
of a peptide.” The team included (pictured here) Liliana
Stefan, Stanley Lee, He-Shu Lu, Wasantha Ranatunga, and Libby
Holbrook, and (not pictured) Makio Tamura and Steve Holbrook.

Open Enrollment ‘Round the Corner

Cost Increases, New Online System

BY D. LYN HUNTER

IIt’s that time of year again, when most of us need to start
thinking about our health benefits and changes we may want to consider.
Open Enrollment starts Nov. 1 and runs the full month. This year employees
will face significant changes to the Lab’s medical plans in
light of rising health care costs, and the Lab is planning various
information sessions to help employees navigate through the maze.

Health benefits are one of the most valuable perks of working for
the University of California, which is why November is such a crucial
month for all UC employees, including those at Berkeley Lab.

During the entire month of November, staff can participate in the
annual Open Enrollment to make changes to health plans and related
benefits. And there’s a lot to consider this year, primarily
because the cost of health insurance has dramatically increased, and
employees will be asked to pay more as a result.

“Insurance rates across the country have gone up for a number
of reasons,” says Richard Takahashi, the Lab’s benefits
coordinator. “Among them are the higher cost of prescription
drugs, new medical technologies, and the aging workforce.”

Compounding the difficulties for UC employees is the state budget
crunch, adds Takahashi. Although the University will cover 65 to 95
percent of employee insurance costs next year, it cannot pay for all
the increases (a gross 15 percent bump), due to severely limited funding
from the state.

However, in an effort to mitigate the financial impact on staff,
he explains, the University has raised costs based on employee salaries.
For example, the increase for someone who makes less than $40,000
a year will be much less than that for an employee who makes over
$120,000.

“Last year, the University used a two-tiered system, with cost
increases adjusted for those who made over or under $40,000,”
says Takahashi. “This year, it was broken down into four tiers
within the $40,000 to $120,000 range.”

This allows the University to spread out the costs and to lighten
the load on those who can least afford the increases, he says. For
example, an employee making under $40,000 a year who uses Kaiser will
have 98 percent of the cost covered by the University. Also, though
costs have increased, no insurance provider services have been cut.

UC will continue to cover 100 percent of the premium cost for dental
and vision coverage for employees and their eligible family members.
Additionally, employee costs for some non-medical plans, including
life and disability insurance, are decreasing in 2004.

Details on these changes are outlined in the Open Enrollment brochure,
to be mailed in late October. Specific cost increases for various
health plans and salary ranges are listed in the chart below. To learn
more about the changes in health plan costs and options, employees
are invited to attend the Lab’s Open Enrollment Vendor Fair
and information sessions (see box for schedule) or by visiting UC’s
“At Your Service” web-site (http://atyourservice.ucop.edu/).

Other Changes

Richard
Takahashi

In the past, employees adjusted their health plans during Open Enrollment
by telephone. This year, the university has switched to a web-based
format. Staff can use computers at home or work (as long as they have
an Internet connection) to make changes. Instructions on how to use
this new online system are included in the Open Enrollment brochure.
“The vast majority of UC employees prefer making transactions
online,” says Takahashi. “It’s faster, they can
see the information right in front of them, and it minimizes mistakes.”

Staff who don’t have access to computers can use designated
machines in the computer lab, located in Building 51L. (See the calendar.)
Those needing further assistance can contact the Lab’s Benefits
Office at X6403.

Another major change to next year’s benefits package is a switch
in legal plans. Starting next year, service will be provided by ARAG,
not Signature. Takahashi said the shift was made because ARAG provides
a more comprehensive suite of services. Employees can opt into the
new legal plan during this year’s Open Enrollment.

Read Your Information

Employees who don’t want to make any adjustments to their health
plan need not take any action, unless they have Health Care or Dependent
Care Reimbur-sement Accounts. However, Takahashi warns, everyone is
encouraged to thoroughly review the Open Enrollment brochure so they
understand the changes that will to take place starting Jan. 1, 2004.
Staff who have not received their packets by late October should contact
the Benefits Office at X6403 or benefits@lbl.gov.

“These are difficult times for everyone,” says Takahashi.
“But the University understands how important health insurance
is for its employees. They have worked hard all year to find a way
to provide the best coverage at the most affordable price.”

Lab Light Kits Teach Middle School Students

A mirror, a laser pointer, and a prism. On Monday, several kits containing
these and other thought-provoking items were given to science teachers
from the City of Berkeley’s Longfellow, Martin Luther King,
and Willard Middle Schools.

Berkeley Lab’s ‘properties of light’ kit, designed
to give seventh and eighth graders a first-hand glimpse of how the
angle of incidence equals the angle of reflection, grew out of a collaboration
between the Lab and the Berkeley Unified School District to strengthen
and update the district’s science program.

“We are creating and supporting a partnership with Berkeley
Lab as a science-rich resource for teachers and students,” says
Rollie Otto, head of Berkeley Lab’s Center for Science and Engineering
Education.

The Lab is helping the school district align the content of its science
curriculum through the grades — what students learn in middle
school lays a foundation for what they’ll learn in high school.
This not only applies to fundamental concepts in life sciences and
physics, but also to basic science skills such as how to develop experiments
and present their results.

“We are working with teachers to help them find ways to work
across the grade levels,” Otto says.
In this vein, the light kits were developed by Lab employees to give
seventh graders a chance to see how light works. They’ll later
use this knowledge in the eighth grade when they learn about astronomy
and space exploration, which, in turn, will lead to high school lessons
on the physical properties of light in chemistry.

The light kits stem from an August meeting in which Berkeley middle
and high school science teachers chose one lesson that will lead to
more advanced concepts taught later in the curriculum. The kits will
be given to about a dozen middle school science teachers in the district,
or one for every seventh and eighth grade science class. Similar kits
exploring other scientific concepts are planned for the future.

Short Takes

Road to Nobel Prize Winds Through ALS

Bing
Jap (far right) is pictured with members of his working group:
(left to right) Bong-Gyoon Han, Haixin Sui, and Peter Walian.

A few weeks ago, during a brief visit, Roderick MacKinnon was one
of many scientists working at the Advanced Light Source (ALS). Last
week, the biophysics professor from New York City’s Rockefeller
University won the Nobel Prize in chemistry. The ALS’s brush
with fame is no coincidence. MacKinnon’s prize-winning foray
into the properties of ion channels in cell membranes was fueled in
part by research conducted at ALS beamline 5.0.2. His research was
supported by members of Bing Jap’s Life Sciences group. In fact,
Lab researcher Haixin Sui is cited in the advanced information prepared
by the Nobel Foundation. MacKinnon also conducted research at the
National Synchrotron Light Source and at the Cornell High Energy Synchrotron
Source.

A Digital Dinner

David
Bailey

At a recent San Francisco dinner hosted by business leader Steven
Forbes, publisher of Forbes magazine and former presidential candidate,
David Bailey of the Computational Research Division had a chance to
mingle with two dozen top Bay Area executives, with whom he discussed
the impact of advanced computers and new-generation Internet tools
on the day-to-day work of scientists. To Forbes, Bailey posed the
question of how government and industry can head off a public backlash
against cutting-edge technologies and mitigate the looming digital
divide, given that startling advances in computers, biotechnology,
and nanotechnology keep coming rapidly. Forbes answered at length,
emphasizing the need to “democratize” technology as rapidly
as possible, just as Henry Ford did with the automobile, so that “the
exotic and fearful become commonplace and accepted.” He also
noted that the U.S. has to recognize it is not the leader in every
technology and that it has some catching up to do — for example,
with the Europeans in cell phone systems and with the South Koreans
in accessibilty of broadband Internet connections.

Mail Models

Chris
Blanchard sorts mail in Building 69.

Through rain, hail and thick fog, the Lab’s Mail Services Department
works tirelessly to deliver parcels and letters to staff across the
Hill in a timely fashion. A tiny crew of five people housed in the
Mail Room in Building 69 make it all happen. With their deft hands,
they sort up to 1,000 pieces of internal and external mail each day,
often turning it around in as little as one to three hours, depending
on when it’s picked up, according to Mario Cole, the customer
service supervisor. “We strive to never make mistakes,”
he says. “But we do occasionally misread a mail stop.”
Despite the growing use of electronic communications, Cole says the
flow of mail through his department has remained steady. While Cole
and his colleagues work for Pitney-Bowes (the company has a contract
with the Lab), their focus is on pleasing the employees at the Lab.
“I want our customers to know that we are dedicated to delivering
the mail on time and have the utmost respect for them and their needs.”

Berkeley Lab Far-Infrared Detectors in Orbit

BY LYNN YARRIS

NASA's
Space Infrared Telescope Facility (top) is in orbit and waiting
to cool down before gearing up to do serious science.

This
engineering test image (above), taken through one of SIRTF’s
three scientific instruments, shows a 5x5 arcminute infrared starfield
in the constellation Perseus.

On Aug. 25, the Space Infrared Telescope Facility (SIRTF) was launched
into orbit from Cape Canaveral aboard a Delta-2 rocket. SIRTF’s
launch was anxiously followed by two researchers with Berkeley Lab’s
Materials Sciences Division (MSD), who have been involved with this
NASA project for nearly 20 years. Now, with the successful launch,
they expect to soon see images of previously hidden cosmic views they
helped obtain.

SIRTF’s images will be captured via a 0.85-meter telescope
and three sophisticated infrared spectroscopy tools. One of them,
the Multiband Imaging Photometer for SIRTF (MIPS), will provide highly
sensitive deep-space probing and mapping at far-infrared wavelengths
ranging from 24 to 160 microns — about 50 to 300 times the wavelengths
of visible light.

Detectors for two of the three arrays at the heart of MIPS were developed
and partly fabricated under the leadership of MSD’s Eugene Haller
and Jeffrey Beeman.

“NASA approached us in 1984 asking for a detector that would
be a good absorber of far-infrared radiation but which would generate
very small dark currents in the absence of radiation,” says
Haller, who also holds a faculty position at UC Berkeley.
Says Beeman, “What they were asking for had never been developed,
and we had no means to measure the extremely small signals and dark
current that they were describing.”

Because interstellar gas clouds and space dust effectively absorb
visible and ultraviolet photons, observations in the far-infrared
portion of the electromagnetic spectrum can reveal objects and phenomenon
that would otherwise be invisible to astronomers, such as the history
of early star formation and the evolution of galaxies and planetary
systems.

SIRTF is the largest infrared telescope ever sent into space, and
MIPS is the first true detector system designed specifically for far-infrared
wavelengths. For the two detector arrays they helped develop, Haller
and Beeman mounted an extensive search of semiconducting materials
and found a germanium crystal doped with gallium that had first been
grown by Berkeley Lab researcher Bill Hansen in 1970.

To boost the range of far-infrared wavelengths detected, Haller and
Beeman subjected some of their gallium-doped germanium crystals to
mechanical stress. This changed the crystals’ valence band structure,
which enabled them to detect lower energy photons than unstressed
crystals.

The unstressed gallium-doped germanium detectors that Haller and
Beeman fabricated are deployed in a 32x32 configuration that can image
photons at wavelengths of 70 microns. The mechanically stressed crystals
are arranged in a 2x20 configuration that can image 160 micron photons.
In combination with a 128x128 detector array made from arsenic-doped
silicon, MIPS can “see” heat sources radiating at around
20 Kelvin, a glow 100 times more faint than any previous infrared
telescope could see.

Because the MIPS detectors are so highly sensitive, they and the
rest of SIRTF’s science instruments have to be cooled down with
liquid helium to a temperature of about 1.5 Kelvin. Otherwise, the
detectors would be “blinded” by their own heat radiation.
Building detectors that could operate at temperatures of near absolute
zero was just one of the many challenges that Haller and Beeman had
to overcome.

“These detectors also had to withstand the violent shaking
that occurs during launch, as well as the many Gs of thrust from the
Delta-2 rocket,” says Haller.

Another challenge, Haller says, was creating electrical contacts
that could operate in such ultracold temperatures. For this, he and
Beeman used ion implantation to create heavily doped regions near
the surface of the semiconductors that acted as perfect electrical
contacts.

MSD
scientists Eugene Haller (left) and Jeffrey Beeman developed two
of the far-infrared radiation detector arrays aboard NASA’s
Space Infrared Telescope Facility, which is designed to capture
images of previously hidden celestial objects and phenomena.

Haller and Beeman also had to invent low-power calibrators, sources
of far-infrared light that can be used to test the detectors before
and during the mission. The calibrators allow astronomers to perform
measurements that can determine whether a detector’s performance
has been impaired by thermal instabilities or radiation damage. They
also serve as “IR flood sources” that can help reset detectors
after a radiation problem.

“When testing showed that the calibrators would be critical
to the success of MIPS, we decided there needed to be redundancy at
each usage point in case of a failure during the launch or other problems,”
Beeman says. “There’s a total of 10 calibration devices
onboard.”

Soon, Haller and Beeman’s detectors will have sufficiently
cooled down to begin recording images and the researchers expect success.

“Our detectors and calibrators have been so thoroughly tested,
we’re confident they’ll perform as they were designed
to do,” Beeman says.

From
Picasso to J Visas

Key
Roles for Head of the International Researchers and Scholars Office

BY D. LYN HUNTER

Ben
Ortega

It’s tough to move to a new country without speaking the language,
as was the case when Ben Ortega moved to America from his native Peru
in 1985. But he got by with a little help from his friends —
the Fab Four, that is.

“I grew up listening to the Beatles,” says the manager
of Human Resour-ces’ International Researchers and Scholars
Office (IRSO). “I would sing along to the records and it helped
me understand English a little better.”

Music has always been a big part of Ortega’s life. In fact,
for a couple of years, he was a drummer for a Lab-based blues band.
But his true passion now lies in the theater.

All The World’s a Stage

It all started back in the late 1980s when, after seeing the proliferation
of stand-up comics with their own TV shows, Ortega thought to himself,
“I could do that.” He began writing comedy, and then,
with the encouragement of some friends, took his act to the stage.
He was living in Washington D.C. at the time, working for an immigration
lawyer.

“The first time I tried it, I bombed,” he recalls. “But
I kept at it, and eventually became pretty well known in the area.
After a while, I began hosting comedy shows at local clubs.”

During this time, he was asked to play an alcoholic on a local cable-access
program. His first stab at acting was quite successful. The proof?
His mother called him in tears after viewing the show, wondering why
he never revealed his drinking problem to her.

He put his performing on hold while he pursued a masters degree and
worked with international scholars and students at the University
of Alabama and, later, at the California Institute of Tech-nology.
After living in Pasadena for a couple of years, he finally climbed
back onto the stage and started performing again.

A job offer from the Lab brought Ortega to the theater-rich Bay Area
in 1999. Since arriving, his acting career has taken off. So far,
he has appeared in 17 plays (one of which opened last month at the
Onstage Theater in Pleasant Hill), and three films. Ortega has played
a wide range of characters, from Pablo Picasso in “Picasso at
the Lapin Agile” to Phyllis, a female role (yes, that’s
right) in “Sylvia”.

The Day Job

Ortega
plays drunkard George Hay in the play Moon Over Buffalo.

While Ortega is fervent about his acting, he considers it a “very
important hobby.” Helping to bring the world’s top researchers
to the Lab is an equally satisfying endeavor for him.

The main focus of his five-person office is to prepare VISA documents
so that international scientists can come here to work temporarily.
To accomplish this, Ortega and his staff must have intimate knowledge
of the complex laws, policies and regulations that govern immigration
to the United States. These guidelines got even more complicated after
9/11, as the government stepped up background checks on scientists,
particularly those from “sensitive” countries like Cuba,
North Korea, Iran, India, and China.

Despite these challenges, Ortega and his colleagues have excelled.
Virtually every international resear-cher hired by the Lab has arrived
here without a hitch. Once here, Ortega’s office helps these
resear-chers get oriented to life at the Lab and in the Bay Area.
They offer advice and referrals on a variety of topics, such as housing,
schools, and social activities, as well as counsel them on their rights
as immigrants.

His success assisting international researchers at the Lab is paralleled
by his triumphs on the stage and in film. Says Ortega of his achievements
in both career and hobby, “If you like what you do, it becomes
part of you.”

A Veritable United Nations

From St. Lucia and Eritrea to Malaysia, Morocco and Mongolia, scientists
from around the globe come here to work. Currently, there are 1,130
foreign nationals employed at the Lab. The list below shows all the
countries represented, and the number of researchers from each nation.

Tri-Lab Recruiting Session Draws a Crowd

When Berkeley Lab employment manager Ed Sayson and his staff worked
with Livermore and Los Alamos national labs in putting together a first-time
tri-lab recruiting program for engineering and physics students, “we
expected no more than 50 people,” Sayson said. Instead, on Oct.
8 he got an overflow crowd of 120 Ph.D. and M.S. candidates at UC Berkeley,
seeking job information about these national treasures.

Berkeley Lab Deputy Director Pier Oddone (pictured on the right)
and colleagues from the other two labs spent the day describing career
opportunities in science. The program culminated with a reception
at the Faculty Club. The collaborative recruitment initiative will
continue at UC Santa Barbara and UC San Diego later this year.

New Breast Cancer Center Investigates Bay Area Mystery

BY DAN KROTZ

Mary
Helen Barcellos-Hoff

For more than 30 years, the Bay Area has had higher breast cancer
rates than the rest of the country. Now Berkeley Lab joins a center
launched earlier this week that will explore why.

The Bay Area Breast Cancer and the Environment Research Center will
study the possible environmental links to breast cancer and address
continuing concerns about the high incidence of breast cancer in Marin
and San Francisco counties. Life Sciences Division director Joe Gray
and staff scientists Mary Helen Barcellos-Hoff and Paul Yaswen join
other researchers from UC San Francisco, Kaiser Perman-ente, Marin
Breast Cancer Watch, and the San Francisco and Marin County Departments
of Health.

The Berkeley Lab team will contribute to the basic science component
of the center’s research, in which animal models will be used
to study mammary development.

“Human and animal data suggest that exposure to carcinogens
such as radiation during puberty increases the likelihood of cancer
later in life,” says Barcellos-Hoff. “We want to learn
what is specific to puberty that makes girls susceptible.”

The center will also conduct a prospective study of Bay Area girls
aged seven or eight to identify environmental exposures in young girls,
and to observe the interplay between genetics and environmental exposures.

Headquartered at UCSF, this is one of four centers funded through
a new NIH initiative that will study the impact of prenatal-to-adult
environmental exposures that may predispose women to breast cancer.
The other centers are based at the University of Cincinnati, Fox Chase
Cancer Center in Philadelphia, and Michigan State University in East
Lansing. They are supported by the National Institute of Environmental
Health Sciences and the National Cancer Institute at $5 million a
year over seven years for a total of $35 million. Also participating
is Christine Erdmann, a University of Michigan professor who also
holds a position in Berkeley Lab's Environmental Energy Technologies
Division.